LARKANA, Jan 16: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal MNA Assadullah Bhutto has said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf cannot be trusted for holding transparent general elections as he has a record of rigging referendum and encouraging horse trading in the National Assembly.

Speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday, Mr Bhutto, also the Sindh MMA president, demanded a caretaker government and independent election commission acceptable to all.

Quoting recent statements of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, he said that the opposition parties were getting closer whereas pro-government parties had developed rifts and referred to reported differences between Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Zafarullah Jamali.

Mr Bhutto said that the multi-party conference being convened in London by the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) would strengthen joint struggle of the opposition and help in restoration of democracy.

He held the government responsible for deteriorating law and order situation in the country and alleged that it wanted to impose emergency and crush opposition on this pretext.

In Sindh, he said, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement was running home ministry for four years but the incidents of street crime, mobile phone snatching, kidnappings and murder of ulema were on the rise.

Incidents of terrorism had also intensified in the country, he said, adding that a staffer of an intelligence agency had been arrested while planting a bomb in the NWFP chief minister secretariat and MMA chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed had been attacked.

In this situation, Mr Bhutto said, the rulers had no right to stay in power.

Commenting on the decrease in oil prices, he said that it was just a mole in camel’s mouth because it would benefit privileged class more as poor people used public transport run on diesel.

He said that the government’s foreign policy was flawed and added that its initiatives in the shape of the Thar Express and trans-Kashmir bus service had failed.

Mr Bhutto said that the government was exploiting Kalabagh dam issue out of proportion only to use it as a tool to perpetuate Gen Musharaff’s rule.

He criticized the Sindh government for failing to stop the sale of two Karachi islands to a foreign company.

He also criticized the federal government’s performance on economic front, saying that the people were braving double taxation and unprecedented price hike amid no industrial development in the country.

The IMF and the World Bank were pressuring the government to devalue rupee, the MMA leader said.

He said that other opposition parties had been invited to participate in the MMA’s rally in Sukkur on January 18.